The Room Outside: Designing Outdoor Living for Older People and People with Dementia

Being outside adds to everyone¿s quality of life but too often this simple joy of living is beyond the reach of older people and people with dementia. It¿s time to rethink the buildings we use for providing care, and even our own homes, to ensure there is a readily accessible `room outside¿. The benefits are undeniable¿improved health, greater independence and often emotional and spiritual comfort. Which is why architect and landscape architect Annie Pollock has written this timely book, having devoted more than 40 years of her life to designing dementia inclusive outdoor living. She is joined by Associate Professor Colm Cunningham contributes his extensive expertise on understanding dementia, ageing and evidence-based care approaches.The room outside is easy to read, informative and well-researched making it the perfect resource for those seeking to build, design or manage better outdoor spaces, or those wanting to access and advocate for them. Our residential care homes and hospitals have many rooms, but do they have a `room outside?¿ They should and the can¿and everything needed to make this happen can be found in these pages.